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Windows 8.1 features revealed

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M

MCD

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Here is a summary by dLMN8R

dLMN8R said:
I'll summarize what I think is some of the coolest info:

Configuration, mouse improvements:
  • No, the start menu isn't coming back, but the start screen and overall mouse usability/discoverability has been substantially improved.
  • Ability to boot to the desktop
  • Ability to make the "all apps" view your default view instead of the tiles, essentially making it work more like a full-screen start menu
  • Improvements to the "all apps" view to more easily sort through your installed programs (by name, or last used, or recently installed, etc.)
  • Ability to show desktop applications first in the "all apps" view instead of modern apps, if that's what you use most frequently
  • Ability to use your desktop background on the start screen, so it's not as jarring
  • Ability to selectively disable "hot corners"
  • Shut-down / restart options added to the "Win+X" menu (or right-click on the start button)
  • Ability to keep the start screen always visible on one monitor (as a dashboard) while doing stuff on another monitor
Basically, it helps respond to user feedback about confusion, jarring changes, and mouse usability, without making personalization/live tiles/etc. completely irrelevant.


New search
  • Universal search returns instead of segregated search
  • Instant results appear as you're typing - whether settings, programs, files, or web results
  • Hitting Enter on a search takes you to the full-screen search experience shown in the screenshots in the article (which is amazing btw)

There's a lot more, but I'll mention one more thing here that I think is particularly amazing - integrated SkyDrive support. Even on a 32GB Surface you can have a 100GB SkyDrive available to you.
  • Nothing syncs locally by default
  • You can still selectively sync whatever you want locally
  • All "online only" files still show up in Explorer.
  • They can be searched, have thumbnails, etc. but barely take up any room at all. (My 45GB of data on SkyDrive takes just a few megabytes in data stored locally)
  • Right when you want to open one, or some application needs one, it automatically streams from the web in the background
  • "Online only" files can even be transparently used by any existing applications - desktop or modern - because the system automatically fetches them when it needs them

Definitely check out the articles - lots of big stuff I didn't mention at all.
Click to expand...

More at the links below:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/30/4377214/windows-8-1-preview-features-screenshots
http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/30/microsoft-windows-8-1-unveiled/
http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/microsoft-provides-first-look-windows-81
http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2013/05/30/placeholder-title/?fromcat=all
http://mashable.com/2013/05/30/windows-8-1-features/
http://techreport.com/news/24878/windows-8-1-start-button-boot-to-desktop-mode-confirmed
 
Still $100+ price tag? :\

Kinda want 8 for the kernel updates and other behind the scenes updates, and the new interface doesn't bother me, but I can't justify $100+ for it.
 
lot more features than that, the articles cover quite a bit.

here are some videos of the leaked (very buggy and unfinished) builds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=cGFbK0--HRQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=KAxXX0m-P_0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K_GpqnYIF4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=WkNGkGeDd3c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=4PuLoQL7IX0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OgW618CnKQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C4xUe-MXJE

you could tell a lot of these changes have been planned from the beginning. The biggest is probably the new snap states.
 
Looks like a solid upgrade from 8, but my problem of it feeling like two different OSes in one seem to remain.
 
I would like to see a more metro look to the desktop icons and folders. I imagine that will happen at some point.
 
Notrollious said:
Still $100+ price tag? :\

Kinda want 8 for the kernel updates and other behind the scenes updates, and the new interface doesn't bother me, but I can't justify $100+ for it.
Click to expand...

It will be a free update to Windows 8, but if you want to upgrade a Windows 7 machine to Windows 8, nothing will change there, you'll still have to pay for it.
 
Steelyuhas said:
It will be a free update to Windows 8, but if you want to upgrade a Windows 7 machine to Windows 8, nothing will change there, you'll still have to pay for it.
Click to expand...

Oh no I know that. I'd need to upgrade but I honestly don't see the need with a $100+ price tag for the upgrade, which is unfortunate.
 
The search improvements are all I needed to give Windows 8 another chance. The horrible segregated search that forced several more clicks/key strokes than necessary was the main reason I did not buy Windows 8 after trying out the release preview.
 
So basically "we fixed all the problems that even novice designers were able to point out, but staunch W8 fans denied existing but rather blamed it on stubbornness?"

Because we know W8 doesn't have usability problems, you people just didn't want to learn it/watch random youtube video on where stuff is/too dumb to understand Windows 8.
 
Angelus Errare said:
So basically "we fixed all the problems that even novice designers were able to point out, but staunch W8 fans denied existing but rather blamed it on stubbornness?"

Because we know W8 doesn't have usability problems, you people just didn't want to learn it/watch random youtube video on where stuff is/too dumb to understand Windows 8.
Click to expand...

I don't know about others, but even I have been really critical since well before we shipped that Windows 8 had significant usability and discoverability issues. I'm glad that teams involved made what seem like a good set of changes to improve it a lot, and from what I hear there's a lot more on that front that's to come too.



So to go back to what I've mentioned in other threads, I was frustrated when there wasn't marketing, ample store training, or in-OS tools to help teach people how to use it.

But despite the fact that customer complaints were completely spot-on, their suggestions to fix things weren't necessarily the right way to fix things. Bringing back the start menu would completely undermine all of the new features around personalization, especially features in 8.1 like improved syncing, live tile sizes, etc.

What we know is that most people actually like the Start Screen (even with a mouse) once they learn how to get around it. Hopefully the new features introduced convince the skeptics here and other places too, for why it's worth keeping around rather than completely reverting to an (IMO) antiquated menu interface :-)
 
Windu said:
lot more features than that, the articles cover quite a bit.

here are some videos of the leaked (very buggy and unfinished) builds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=cGFbK0--HRQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=KAxXX0m-P_0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K_GpqnYIF4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=WkNGkGeDd3c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=4PuLoQL7IX0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OgW618CnKQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C4xUe-MXJE

you could tell a lot of these changes have been planned from the beginning. The biggest is probably the new snap states.
Click to expand...

I want these alarm sounds on my phone. Now.
 
Those features sound AWESOME.

W8`s google now like search including searches within the apps could really be something if it works!

The skydrive integration looks all kind of sweet to, I already use skydrive to host my default documents folder so they stay in sync, but having that available as a system wide solution it`s even better.

Can`t wait for build now XD
 
JaggedSac said:
Cool. I'm most interested in if Xbox Music is no longer an insult to humanity.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it has got a bit better, but I would like to see a total revamp of the interface. Not necessarily the store front part, but the my music section. It just isn't pretty when you compare it to say Nokia Music or the Music Info app.
 
pje122 said:
LOL! Personal tastes!
Dude......
Click to expand...

What! I'm a software developer and worked on this :-P sue me

The first list is also "cool" cause it addresses the primary complaints people had, especially around mouse. Not "cool" because of "hey that feature is really cool"
 
"Ability to make the "all apps" view your default view instead of the tiles, essentially making it work more like a full-screen start menu

And it took them how long to do this?...


The way it works now is the most backwards thing ever.
 
Being able to boot to desktop and unified searching are the highlights for me. I will probably keep using Classic Shells but all these updates sound like huge improvements for novice users.
 
I'm still trying to avoid Windows 8 as long as possible. I hated when they changed the Xbox Dashboard to be like it.. so i really dont want to use it.
 
MCD said:
Windows Phone was like that at first but they later included Google.

In other words, wait for Apollo.
Click to expand...

Integrated search in WP using the Search button is still Bing, you can only change it in IE. This will likely always be Bing too.
 
It's sounding good. I've had the Win8 upgrade version for months now that I got from a cheap student deal but never installed. When is the update going live?
Edit- wait i have the full version sweeeet
 
Complistic said:
Then I'm still not interested.
Click to expand...

The added features make it easier to achieve your precious 2 click start ups.

Come on people. Stop acting like the start menu was the pinnacle of usability.

Balgosa said:
I'm still trying to avoid Windows 8 as long as possible. I hated when they changed the Xbox Dashboard to be like it.. so i really dont want to use it.
Click to expand...

The Xbox dashboard change was not ripped from Windows 8, it was just a part of Microsoft's overall design shift. If you want to blame a program that started it (which is silly to do so anyways), then blame Zune.

Chinner said:
is wifi still awful with peformancee spikes and long windows configuration times????
Click to expand...

I'm curious about this. Wi-Fi on my laptop is strange occasionally.

JaggedSac said:
Cool. I'm most interested in if Xbox Music is no longer an insult to humanity.
Click to expand...

Also this. Video too. I want to be able to edit my file info and make it look nice and organized, dammit.
 
Symphonic said:
The Xbox dashboard change was not ripped from Windows 8, it was just a part of Microsoft's overall design shift. If you want to blame a program that started it (which is silly to do so anyways), then blame Zune.
Click to expand...

oh no, i wasn't saying that it was ripped from xbox, I'm saying I didn't like the interface of the new xbox dashboard which is why I don't like the Windows 8 look as its simliar.
 
dLMN8R, anything on fixing the network connections? Right now you can't see the username once it's been entered and can't easily change the password (only option is to clear everything). Also, seems once you set up a connection, it's a huge hassle to actually change username or password. Can't copy & paste, as the sidebar closes once it loses focus. So faster to just delete the connection instead.

(yeah, been working a lot with connections ;).

Though gotta say, moving up from the bottom to show settings works really well. Hopefully you can disable the top charm activation, but keep the bottom one.
 
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